What kind of wedding dress do you want?

© Créditos/Reprodução: Unsplash / Taylor Heery

Dress for your wedding

Choosing the wedding dress is probably one of the most exciting yet exhilarating tasks for a bride. Put simply, you would want to look your best when walking down the aisle. With all eyes focused on you, you feel the need to look ever more ravishing and polished for your big day. One of the ways to achieve that is by choosing the perfect dress for your wedding.

Nowadays, when we think of wedding dresses, we automatically think of the western wedding dress—long, white dress that we usually see in royal weddings and in any conventional weddings for that matter. However, the western wedding dress only dates back from the Victorian era. Before then, as weddings were treated as economic unions, brides wore their best dresses. Some ancient brides even wore bright colors such as yellow, red, etc. to symbolize the happiness of the union.

Contrary to popular belief, we can actually choose to wear other dresses aside from western wedding dresses. If you’re not a fan of white long western gowns we are all so accustomed to, here’s a piece of good news for you: you are free to deviate from the norm and choose different kinds of dresses! You can opt for v neck prom dresses or even black formal dresses! In fact, in the Victorian era, a bride can marry in any color. In Scandinavia, black dresses are popular. It all boils down to your style and preference. There are various styles to choose from.

Different kinds of wedding dresses

Here are some of the most popular wedding dresses:

• Chinese cheongsam

This dress is also known as Qipao or Chipao and is popularly known as the traditional Chinese tight-fitting dress worn by women. Its main characteristics include a fitted waist, mandarin collar, slits on two sides, and tailored fit form. Its fabrics could be satin brocade, silk, or cotton. This intricate dress is often designed with silver and gold embroidery. However, in Chinese weddings, brides wear three dresses, the red qipao or Chinese cheongsam, one western wedding dress of white color, and a third gown.

• Western wedding dress

There are various styles of western wedding dresses. Usually, they are of white shades such as eggshell, ivory, and ecru. However, in some places, they deviate this norm and choose different colors such as brown, black, or red. This type of wedding dress has been based on the gowns worn by queens of the West such as Queen Victoria and Mary Queen of Scots. There are styles that you can choose from such as ball gowns, mermaid wedding dresses, trumpet wedding dresses, sheath wedding dresses, tea-length wedding dresses, fit-and-flare wedding dresses, A-line wedding dresses, and column wedding dresses. With regards to length, you can choose to make your gown short or with a train. You can also opt for laces or frills for decorations. There are a lot of ways to form the gown best suited for you under this category. By far this is the most flexible type of wedding dress.

• Chinese national wedding dress

The Chinese national wedding dress, which is also called longfenggua consists of a covering veil, Chinese phoenix coronets, and traditional Chinese wedding shoes. It is considered as an essential Chinese wedding dress in China. It is unique for its symbols including the dragon, phoenix, and five embroidered bats. These embroidered figures and images have corresponding meanings in Chinese culture. This dress, though not as tight-fitting as the qipao, still shows off the curvaceous shape or the bride. The covering veil is a square-shaped red silk color with phoenix designs and patterns. In the ceremony, the bride is supposed to cover her head until all relatives and friends have left. The groom gets to take off the veil afterward in a sweet moment after the ceremony. As for the coronet, it was initially designed for queens of the Ming dynasty but eventually, this was emulated by people hence becoming a fashion tradition among brides even up to this day, starting from the Ming and Qin dynasties.

• Gothic wedding dress

These dresses are known for their elegance and sophistication and similar to the western wedding dress, it also has taken its elements from the Victorian and Elizabethan eras. Popular to this style of dress is the corset-style along the mermaid silhouettes and ball gowns. These dresses are also usually very particular with details with intricate details of laces and beadworks. Some even have ruffle and tulle details in them. With regards to color, we may have a stigma that Gothic is usually black but actually, Gothic style wedding dresses can be in various colors depending on the bride’s expression and taste.

The significance of wedding dress

After all, the perfect dress is the one that speaks much about your culture, your style, and your values. Dress is an expression of one’s self and we want to reflect that as much as possible. The key to truly being your most vibrant self in your most special day is by simply being you. You will know within you that you are the happiest and most satisfied when you are showing who you really are as a person especially when you’re facing your partner in life. Part of doing that is by featuring your own unique culture. By choosing to wear your own culture’s traditional clothing, you are bringing forth the message that you are proud of it. Chinese culture in itself is very intricate, complex, and sophisticated. By choosing to wear the Chinese cheongsam you are implicitly saying that you are in solidarity with your own culture and that you are proud of it. This speaks much about your personality. The Chinese cheongsam in itself is very intricate in its detailing and form. By donning it on your special day you are then patronizing the many different aspects of the Chinese culture. The other term for the Chinese cheongsam is qipao and this word actually means “banner dress”. By choosing to wear it on your wedding day, you can also say that you are raising the banner of your culture.

The best version of yourself is your authentic self; one that respects and loves the culture from where you belong.

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